Tonight at the BBC Proms, two global superstars take to this
stage to bring us epic poetry from Sibelius, Liszt, and Strauss.
We'll venture through dark forests, peek inside Budapest's plushest
19th century salons, and we'll take an action packed romp
through sunny Bavarian mountains.
But forget the grandeur and the magnificence -
there's just one instrument that really steals the show.
Welcome to the BBC Proms.
Hello and welcome back to the nation's village hall.
I have two names for you - Yuja Wang and Klaus Makela.
That's right - the most rock'n'roll, renegade pianist in the world.
And the hottest, young conductor on the block,
hailed as a new voice in contemporary classical music.
Together, they are an explosive duo.
Joined by their Norwegian friends, the Oslo Philharmonic, Klaus,
Yuja and the orchestra bring us a romantic evening featuring
Sibelius's Tapiola, Listz's first piano concerto,
and Ein Heldenleben - A Hero's Life -
a swashbuckling ego trip adventure by Richard Strauss.
And keeping me company up here in the gallery
of the Royal Albert Hall is legendary frontman,
pianist, arranger and epic prog-rocker -
YES - that's right, Rick Wakeman.
And award-winning comedian, composer, and Associate
at the Royal Academy of Music Vikki Stone.
Great to have you here. Thanks.
Rick - you're no stranger to the Royal Albert Hall
and South Kensington?
No, I know it well. I was lucky enough to be a student
at the Royal College of music, literally a few steps away, when I
left to pursue at that time a career as a session musician, my clarinet
professor actually said to me, when you leave here, walk across the
road, climb up the steps, the front of the Albert Hall, and look at
that. That is my next stop. Well, look at this. This is even the
first flush of youth. And I was just wondering, how many keyboards are
too many? You could never have too many!
There is an element of safety in it, but back then, when that was done,
most keyboards basically did one job, so you needed them all to do
the different jobs. Nowadays, they do many more jobs, but I still have
the same amount of keyboards! You might as well have as many as you
can!
Vikki - welcome back to the Proms.
Of course, you are a regular. When you have attempted to walk out of
the door of a college during music never returned to Mecca well, I
spent my childhood playing the flute to a really high level and I got to
the point where I was in an orchestra and I thought, the fluids
at the back, and I want to be at the front, I want to do other stuff!
So that was that. That was that.
We've got three heroic composers tonight.
Sibelius, the anti-hero, drank too much, shaved his head,
a national icon in Finland.
Liszt - celebrity pianist, well-dressed dandy, hero of Hungary.
And Strauss at the end there.
But first, making his debut performance here at the Proms
is the Finnish conductor Klaus Makela.
Klaus landed in London last night and headed straight
here to South Kensington to do some vital pre-concert preparation.
Here is Tom Service.
Cheers, Klaus! Good to see you.
Welcome. I know the Royal Albert Hall is important, but pretty much
everyone is off during the summer. Did you are playing allow you time
for a beer, or do you just do it for the cameras?
I love a good beer! Is a cello easier to take on a plane than the
baton, or not? With a baton, you have to take it in
the luggage! I just broke one, and I feel completely different now when I
lost my perfect baton. Now I have a different one.
What is distinctively different about the Oslo hall?
It is a very special place in my heart. My first opera showing. They
showed an a great amount of trust me of me when I was young, and it was
unexpected. The amount of warmth they should be from the beginning
really meant a lot to me and they feel like my family. The orchestra
feel like all my kids! We had better get this done because
I want to do my tour guide patented show you the Royal Albert Hall,
because you have never been in? Never in my life! And I promise you,
it is a place of musical community and family. The people on stage and
it will be watching as well. Cheers at Mecca we can make light work of
these. -- Cheers!
You are going to be doing it in this place.
It is quite a special place. Is there a tingle of fear,
anticipation, excitement came I think it's great.
It's great to have wonderful place like this for art and music.
I don't do this very often, actually.
So, we are going round where other people are, Coliseum like. It is
exactly like Rome. It is a gladiatorial thing!
LAUGHTER Look at this.
Oh, right! This is very nice. Yes. I should come here more often!
Yes, you should expect I suspect you will be! But it is this thing about
its being all around. Look at the Arches all around. They are all...
It is a beautiful space, absolutely, and I love the atmosphere.
You feel like wherever you are in this hall, it is kind of a hug, and
embrace. With the first music you praise the opposite of a hug stop
Tapiola is like a freezing landscape of complete oblivion! Why are you
starting with that? I think there is actually the
perfect piece to start here, because then we introduce kind of the real
sound of our orchestra. With Strauss, you have all the warmth and
greatness, and of course a massive orchestra with eight horns, and some
of the trumpets and everything, so it is a beautiful space. It truly
is. Tomorrow morning, of course, we will work very hard here. We have
three hours to work, and experience the acoustics, and experiment with
it, and I'm really, really looking forward to it. It will be a very
memorable evening for me. I hope for the audience too!
Close and Tom enjoying a pint there. -- Klaus.
Well, Klaus brings with him a work by fellow Finn Jean Sibelius.
A titan of 19th and 20th century music, hailed by Finns
as their national composer.
Sibelius led a somewhat colourful life.
He had a penchant for fine dining and fast living -
he loved lobster, he loved smoking, drinking and gambling.
An interesting chap, by all accounts.
I'm not sure why I am thinking about you at this point, Rick! A bit of a
rocker!
Vikki - Sibelius's Tapiola is a "tone poem".
What is a tone poem? It is something that micro a piece
of music that doesn't follow any particular form, and it invites the
listener to kind of imagine something, often something specific.
Sometimes it is described as like listening to film music but without
a film, and Sibelius Route 12 tone poems, often about the land and its
mythology.
Rick, we're about to hear Sibelius's 1926 work Tapiola -
what does the name refer to?
In Finnish mythology, it is a kingdom, and Tapio was the god of
the forest. It was quite an amazing place. He had lots of sort of elf
-like creatures that guarded and looked after, did various bits and
pieces there, and it is quite an amazing place to be.
Very tall indeed! And audience now uploading the entrance of the
conductor, Klaus Makela.
Making his Proms debut tonight.
The Norwegian musicians are finely tuned and ready to play.
A huge ensemble for this beast of a piece.
Sibelius' Tapiola.
Music: Tapiola by Jean Sibelius
APPLAUSE
The still, beauty of the forest lying bare fierce and spellbinding.
In Sibelius's words:
"Dusky forests, ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams".
It was terrifyingly beautiful I would like to go there, I have to
say. Rick, did you see the God Tapio there in that? Absolutely I was
sitting there with him. It to a brilliant piece of music, it is so
visual, and their interpretation I think was quite stunning. And the
orchestra, on their feet, acknowledging the applause of a
packed house here at the Royal Albert Hall. A magnificent
performance there. Of Sibelius's work, Vikki, what were your thoughts
on that? A Klaus came out with a glint in his eye, he was go, he knew
what he was going to give us, it was simultaneously highly detailed but
playful, particularly the opening where you have a conversation
between the winds and the string, there was such a play, such a sense
of like, he knew he had this magic, to give to us. The colour,
absolutely incredible, that he brought out there. From the ancient
forests of Finland we journey south to the salons of Budapest. Next up
it is Franz Liszt piano concerto number one. I feel like I need an
epic prog rock intro, the ground would up and the piano would rise
out the Ashes, with Yuja Wang doing a power lunge. I am getting carried
away. She said herself she feels like a rock God when she plays the
prom, she is notorious for challenging the status quo, in terms
of dress, style, flair, showmanship, who ill she is playing the keyboard.
Rick, I don't know why, but I am drawn towards you, whenever I talk
about that, and I just like to bring this up. Oh, yes.
Now that is showmanship indeed! More is more, clearly.
Moore is even more! People forget sometimes that AllMusic in concert
is not just hearing and listening, which is incredibly important, but
the eyes are important, what you see, and you have got to enjoy what
you see and have fun with what you say, and Yuja is brilliant at that.
She certainly different class when it comes to outrageous dressing!
Well, I'm not sure about that!
You scored the music for the 1975 cult classic Lisztomania,
starring Roger Daltrey as Franz Liszt.
Tell us a bit more about Franz Liszt as a person.
He was a rock and roll star of the day. Like a lot of the touring
pianists and other instrumentalists were. They went around touring
around Europe, taking their music. It was the first time people had
heard it, because of course, there were no recordings or anything like
that, and he was a bit of a rock guard wherever he went. A
good-looking man, attracted the ladies, and there are all sorts of
stories... How many are true, I don't know! But there is one story
that when he returned to cities in European countries two or three
years later after being there the first time, he was often met by
women pushing prams.
women pushing prams. Ah! So not a lot has changed these days!
Potentially! But how bad! Indeed!
And lastly, Vikki, tell us about the orchestration.
Well, Clive, we have got to talk about the triangle! And I have been
concealing one here in the folds of my chair!
One you have made earlier! We have got to listen out for lots
of orchestration from the winds, and a lot going on, but the only thing
that really stands out is this triangle. It is a semi-Cueva motive,
which I'm going to do. It sounds a bit like an alarm. I also apologise
to husband, who is a percussionist and will be judging me now. --
semi-quarter. But it is like this. I am not doing it justice, but it is
meant
meant to go ding-a-ding-a-ding. I'm not going to get my degree
today! Absolutely brilliant. So this is a
triangle in it, but it also has the superstar pianist Yuja Wang. Let's
hear from her herself.
London vibe. T! I just love the accident so much,
and I feel very confused with the car directions!
LAUGHTER I just got here!
I love taking a walk, just get some fresh air, get the vibes of the city
and clear my head before I get to the dark room of the stage.
Yeah. I actually first played in the
country when I was 17, and now I come back, this season, I have been
playing it a lot. It is like an old friend I haven't seen for a long
time. It is really operatic, theatrical.
It is pretty farcical! How music moves me, touches me, it
is so cliche, but it is something that is so much more direct than any
language, and it just goes straight to your heart, you don't know how to
say it, right? And a lot of people come after the concert and say, I am
speechless. It is like, yeah, I know what you mean!
And there's the piano, buffed up and ready for Yuja.
The orchestra just tuning up.
And triangle player Heming Valebjorg has limbered up.
He is ready for tonight's performance!
Hush descends at the Royal Albert Hall as we await the entrance, and
we are all wondering what she is going to be wearing, given that her
costumes at
costumes at concerts are very, very carefully thought out.
To reveal her fiery nature and her rock god status, as she has
proclaimed herself. Of course, Rick, you know Liszt very
well from the film you have made, and he is going to get quite a
performance tonight, wherever he is. CHEERING
Perhaps in the heavens! And there we are!
The inimitable Yuja Wang,
Making her entrance at the Royal Albert Hall. She has not played a
note yet! But that is quite a reception.
reception. Klaus Makela to conduct the as well there Oslo Philharmonic.
Iangle today. APPLAUSE
A rip-roaring, thundering Yuja Wang dominates the stage,
combining flash and fiendishly fast fingers with tender, delicate
moments of sublime intimacy.
Yuja likes to joke that her mother wanted her to be a dancer,
but she was too lazy so she chose the piano instead, so that she could
sit down.
There was nothing lazy about tonight's performance.
The applause filling this hall with the Oslo Philharmonic there and Yuja
Wang, in Liszt's first piano concerto toe, Rick, as a fellow
musician, what were your thoughts? Sensational. She gave everything I
think Liszt would have wanted a a lot more, you summed it, delicate
moment, powerful moment, it's a very hard piece to play, it full on all
the time. There is no respite. She threw herself in, she was brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant. Vikki, the charisma, it filled the hall, we
could feel it up here from our position, the delights that she
seemed to get from performing that piece as well, here she is. Back on
stage, your thoughts? I think the way she is just herself, she is
here's me, here is all of me, she is fabulous, she is so feminine and it
is wonderful to watch. There she is. I am sure I know what
the audience want here, they want more.
And is she going to...? Grant them their wish. Yes, I think she is.
APPLAUSE.
Electrifying, fiendishly difficult. Yuja Wang with her on core there,
wowing the crowd. A fabulous arrangement of Bizet's Carmen. The
critics declared the arranger, the greatest pianist dead or alive in
1933. I suspect Yuja Wang had manager to say about that in 2022.
-- has something. Yuja Wang and the Oslo Philharmonic, with Liszt's
piano concerto and Bizet's Carmen. They want more. I think they would
happily skip the interval. I really do. I think we should skip the
interval too, frankly. And here she is again, back on stage.
A wonderful, wonderful performance, and who knows, maybe a second
encore? I don't know. That would be too much. Too much for this
audience. But I know it is what they want, and she's going to grant their
wish again.
Rapturous applause for Yuja's interpretation of Gluck's
opera Orfeo and Euridice.
The audience getting a real treat tonight. Two encores.
Yuja is famed for her encores, often decided on the day,
on the spur of the moment whatever mood takes her.
She's free to take on the world and the Proms audience are enraptured.
Vikki, the encores. Just them on their own eggs micro I mean, what a
contrast! The showmanship of the first one,
the Bizet, then moving through into the Gluck, putting them side by
side, the bravery to come out with that stillness and a second encore.
Beautiful. Such a lovely, lovely choices.
It's interesting you pick up on the contrast there, showing the variety
and the breadth and the colour of her playing. That's what she really
wanted to get across. And she did it in two showpieces rate at the end.
Yes, I think she is one of those players you actually associate with
the bigger performances, and actually to see something so
intimate after taking us from zero to be only 100%, she is the Beyonce
of classical music in my opinion. To take is to such an intimate place at
the end was glorious. Yes, a full house here at the Royal Albert Hall.
And of course, the triangle player was pretty good! I think he is
getting a bit of applause there! Say no iffy once a day off, I am ready.
I was close, I'm sure we can all agree! There he is, there he is.
Brilliant work.
As I say, the audience likely to come out -- they would like her to
come out again. They want a third encore. May two is
the limit for tonight. It could go on.
So, we are now in the interval. The musicians are having a breather.
They need it. And The Proms audience are doing a quick - for ice cream.
Let's look forward to our next piece, written in the Bavarian
mountains in Dublin for the bombast and heroism. It's essentially a
composer writing about himself, writing about his wife, leaving
quoting fragments of his own music. We are actually just
wondering if Yuja Wang is going to come out again! We had better keep
our eye on the stage. And I think she actually is! She is going to be
coming out! The audience treated to not one but two micro encores. Is it
going to be a third? I don't know, but they are demanding that
micro-stamping their feet! That she comes out again. The Oslo
Philharmonic, of course, wonderful in the opening two micro pieces from
the programme. In the audience here have done it. They have got magical
powers, the Royal Albert Hall folk. They've managed to bring Yuja Wang
out again. It looks like she was halfway changed! She was back in her
dressing room and just getting undressed, and had to pop her top on
and come out. The applause there, of the audience,
and quite right too. It has been an evening of virtuoso playing by one
of the stars of the classical music world. My word. We thought we were
going to get three encores there. Not quite, but two! That he damn
good. So, after the interval, we are going to go on our next piece. It is
another tone poem, this time from Richard Strauss?
Yes, this one is very much centred on the hero's journey. It is said to
be about Strauss himself, it is divided into six movements, but they
are played through continuously so there are gaps between the
movements. Two to look out for in particular, so it is about the
hero's Janie, Strauss himself. The second one is about the critics, the
adversaries of Strauss, and the third man is at the hero's
companion, his wife. Something to listen out for is a violin melody
which is meant to kind of depict his wife as micro different moods, so
all of her various moods. -- his wife's different moods.
OK. It is called, of course, Ein Heldenleben. Some have suggested
that tone poems are almost like film scores, and I just wonder if that is
the case here potentially? Well, yes, because we've got the
protagonist, you've got your hero. Let's take it in Star Wars terms. If
the film is Star Wars, then we have got Luke skywalker is Strauss, Darth
Vader as the critics, and Princess Leia is his wife. That is what is
going on here! Indeed. Did you talk about Strauss'
wife, and who she is, with that violin motive we are going to hear
in the piece? Yes, she was an operatic soprano,
and apparently they had a tempestuous relationship. Well, of
course! What else would it have been?! He is a famous composer.
I wonder, as well, Rick, the idea of this piece, and the composer himself
as a hero, is that something that... That is the power composers have.
They can obviously write themselves into whatever they like.
They can indeed. They can do a Hitchcock, who was in every one of
his films, and a composer may put himself into every piece of his
music. Richard Strauss often claim that it wasn't about him, but it
blatantly obviously is, and I think that it is an interesting piece,
because he has a chance to really paint pictures of a lot of his life,
including his wife, and as you say, his adversaries. Isn't that
something we would all like to do? In fact, I may go away and write
something about all the people who have been nasty to me over the
years! I actually wrote a song once about a
bad review I had, so I have been there!
I am going to do it. It will be a very long piece!
I look forward to it. How did tone poem actually push the boundaries of
the classical form? Tone poems were very much a thing of
the Romantic era, and prior to that, composers were very much writing in
form, and in symphonic form and felt they had to stick to these fairly
rigid musical rules. And a tone poem is a form in itself, so it does not
quite throw all the rules out of the window, but it gave composers a
sense of freedom, and music is used in a slightly different way and they
can take things in different directions. So even though a tone
poem is a form, it gave a sense of musical freedom in a time when
structure was really everything to a composer. And I should say that we
have a surprise tonight. Coming into our little studio here,
perched upon the Royal Albert Hall is Yuja Wang. Wonderful to see you,
Yuja. You are absolutely amazing. Thank you very much! Thank you for
joining us. How was it for you? It was great! It went very quick!
How are you feeling now? I could probably play it again!
They wanted you to play it again. They managed to drag you out for
that matter I said that! That was pretty cool.
Yes, really good. They wanted you to play another encore. Two is enough.
I am known for playing lots of encores, so I think they were
expecting that! They expected that, absolutely. I
mean, tell us about your sort of preparation for this evening?
I went to Hyde Park. It was extremely hot!
And I just played the piano a little bit, and, yeah. And that was it. And
tell us about working with close? What do I deal with close? Working
with close, how is that you micro -- Klaus.
It was great. We are very in tune with each other, and as you can see,
he is right there all the time, and it is fun. You seen very in sync.
How does he bring out the best in you as a soloist, do you think you
make the piece itself is pretty flirty, so it helps!
Oh! Hello! It is Liszt, so quite a light piece,
so we are going to work more on Brahms coming up and rather well,
and more serious, substantial music. -- Ravel. So the two of you will
work together much more in the future?
I hope so! I have a quickfire round for all of
you now. You have just come off stage, Yuja. You have just finished.
The audience absolutely lovely. What's your favourite drink after a
performance? Vodka. Vodka! In copious amounts? Or ltd ones? Not
really limited! OK! Vikki, what is your favourite
drink after a performance? Fairs. Phase? Champagne! Got to be.
Rick? Terribly boring. Cup of tea. British!
How British! But they took the drinking pleasure away in 1985. OK,
OK. So it is a cup of tea, I'm afraid.
So, most outrageous outfit you have ever won a stage?
They are all outrageous! They are all outrageous.
Again, that's fair enough. Vikki? I once had an outfit made of my cocker
spaniel Burt, so I just as a spaniel! You just as a spaniel?!
Yes. OK, OK. This is an interesting conversation! Rick, you're most
outrageous outfit? I wear sequined capes on stage, so
it doesn't get more outrageous than a sequined cake.
I know, I know. We saw a picture earlier on, mate.
Yes, you did! Pretty outrageous and fabulous.
OK, final quick wrong question. And please, as honestly. OK? How many
hours the practice for? -- answer honestly.
How many hours a day do you practice for? Today was half an hour. OK,
usually, when you are not performing? About that. OK. Half an
hour? Well, I had a whole year a pandemic. You practised through
that? No, I didn't touch a piano for a year. You didn't touch it, wow.
Yeah, it's nice. You forget the physical part of the music.
Vikki? I spent four hours practising that triangle earlier. It was
clearly a waste of time! I just had to clarify that.
That might have been me. But anyway. But anyway. How many hours, then,
when playing? When I was a kid, it was four hours
a day. Two two in the morning till two in the evening. But not any
more. I will play a bit if there were no flute at Christmas and
that's it. -- two hours. Rek. It depends what you call practice. I
sit at the piano, and some days it is dark when I stop playing another
the days, you play for a very short while, and when you are doing
concerts and you are out on tour, it is just purely the rehearsal time
and then the concerts. Obviously, it used to be three or four hours a
day. I can't go too long without playing. Travelling sometimes for
two or three days. All right, one final question for you, Yuja. What
is it like playing this hall, here, in The Promsamazing. It is just
amazing. I am overwhelmed. Overwhelm. Well, it has been a
pleasure having you here. Thank you so much for -- coming up just at the
plane to a packed house. Thank you. Well done.
Well, the orchestra are primed to take on Strauss's Ein Heldenleben,
Listen out for the heroic horn, representing Strauss himself and the
violin. Which signify the presence of his
wife. The Oslo Philharmonic, ready to
perform this epic tone poem. APPLAUSE
And here he is, Klaus Makela. Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic
here. Brilliant performance, leading the list at the beginning of the
programme an now it is Strauss. -- Liszt.
APPLAUSE
Klaus Makela and the Oslo Philharmonic. Taking us on an
action-packed swashbuckling adventure with Richard Strauss.
But at the same time, moments of flirtatiousness
from the solo violin - a representation of Strauss's wife.
Charming and teasing, utterly enchanting.
And there, the concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic.
Quite rightly getting her applause. I have got to ask you guys.
I have got to ask you guys. Rick, Vikki...
CHEERING Amazing stuff, and the concertmaster
again, acknowledging that micro CHEERING
Principal horn there. CHEERING
And the woodwind section are all taking their
taking their bows, contributing masterfully to this performance of
Strauss'. And the horn section ten B N,
providing that fire in the belly of the beast. -- the horn section too.
Getting them all to stand up, and quite rightly.
In the audience too on its feet.
CHEERING
The timpani play out there. -- the timpani Liszt.
-- the principal timpanist. And the whole orchestra on its feet.
What an evening of music.
Beginning, of course, with Tapiola. Going through to Liszt and that
number one piano Concerto with Yuja Wang.
And they are stamping their feet now.
And then Strauss' wonderful piece there, and here comes, we hope, an
encore. It is also Strauss, but it is Johann Strauss!
APPLAUSE LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE CHEERING
Another Strauss, Johann this time, the second, and that gorgeous piece
from his ballet. And the Oslo Philharmonic, led by
Klaus Makela, with that wonderful encore.
I was hoping to bring rick and Vikki in a bit earlier but the audience
were having none of it! They weren't! What did you make of that,
Vicky? Lets talk about the first Strauss first. We talked about the
third movement with the solo violin. That was gorgeous. For me it was the
fourth movement, the hero on the battlefield, starting with that
offstage trumpet. There was a real sense in the Hall of where they? Are
to end with the other Strauss, what a fun encore. But it is a fantastic
Proms W. Indeed, we must make that point, that it is Klaus' debut here
in the Royal Albert Hall. Rick, your impressions?
I think that it is their own standing ovation Proms audiences are
quite unique. They bring out the best in every
musician on the stage. You talk to any musician in that
orchestra and they will tell you what a difference The Proms audience
makes. They could be here all night, definitely. It brings out the best
in musicians, and I think the whole evening was a great programme, great
musicianship, great everything. And Klaus is out again, acknowledging
the warmth of there, carried on a tide of affection, really. As Rick
indicated there, really giving energy to a performance tonight.
Well, we ventured deep into the forest with Sibelius. We have had a
flashy keyboard soiree in the salons of Budapest with friends Liszt, and
we have gone on our own action adventure with Richard Strauss. I
would like to thank Rick Wakeman and Vikki
Stone for joining us. What a
wonderful journey has been. Thank you so much for being here.
And thank you for joining us on this epic ride with Klaus, Yuja and the
Oslo Philharmonic. Thank you and good night.